Produced by The Boston Globe, the GlobeDocs Film Festival celebrates and premieres new, acclaimed documentary films; bringing together filmmakers, award-winning journalists, and special guests from around the world. In its eleventh year, the festival continues to spotlight vital stories and affirm Boston’s role as a hub for nonfiction film. Programming highlights diverse perspectives, amplifies BIPOC voices, and explores pressing topics across science and technology, public health, investigative journalism, the arts, LGBTQ+ issues, sports, education, racial injustice, politics, and more. Each festival screening is followed by a journalist-led conversation and Q&A with the documentary filmmakers and special guests. The festival offers a robust five days of in-person screenings across three Boston cinemas, as well as a simultaneous twelve-day virtual festival.
Enjoy complimentary beer, wine, and light bites before the film. Your ticket to the opening night party includes a reserved seat in Moviehouse 1 for the screening, along with exclusive access to the filmmakers and VIPs in attendance.
Wednesday, October 22nd
5:30pm - 7:00pm
The Coolidge Theatre Rooftop
290 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446
Following the final screening, join us for the announcement of the Audience Award winners for Best Feature and Best Short. Enjoy complimentary beer, wine, and light bites, hear from the festival programmers, and celebrate the conclusion of another GlobeDocs Film Festival.
Sunday, October 26th
8:30pm - 10pm
Lou's
13 Brattle St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Certain films will only be available to view in-person, the remainder will be virtual screenings. To view our virtual film offerings, click here. To see our in-person schedule of screenings, view our schedule above.
How long do I have to watch the virtual screenings, and will they be offered during the same time as the in-person film festival?
The virtual film festival will take place from October 22nd - November 2nd. Learn more about all of our virtual screenings here.
To purchase an all-access pass for the in-person festival, click on the 'Buy In-Person Tickets' button above. All-access passes also receive the VIP GlobeDocs swag bag as well as access to the Opening Night and Closing Night celebrations. Purchase your all-access pass to the virtual festivals here.
For sponsorship inquiries, contact Julia Karam at julia.karam@globe.com.
By providing us with your email address as part of your registration to any Boston Globe or Boston.com event, you will also be added to our select newsletter lists. You may opt out of these lists at any time by clicking the unsubscribe links provided in the newsletters. View our privacy policy. Your participation in any event is subject to our Terms of Service.
2025, US, 89 minutes
Directed by Tasha van Zandt
Produced by Tasha Van Zandt, Sebastian Zeck, Jessica Harrop, Kathryn Everett
A visual feast of underwater wonders that demands big-screen viewing, A LIFE ILLUMINATED follows trailblazing marine biologist Dr. Edie Widder—raised in greater Boston and one of the first women in her field—as she descends 3,300 feet into the ocean’s darkest depths. From capturing the first-ever footage of the elusive giant squid to unveiling the glowing mysteries of deep-sea bioluminescence, Widder embarks on her most daring quest yet: to document a bioluminescent phenomenon that could forever change how we understand life on Earth. Blending stunning cinematic vérité footage from her journeys into the deep with never-before-seen archives from her lifetime of expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean and beyond, A LIFE ILLUMINATED captures Edie’s crusade to reveal the profound beauty of bioluminescence while emphasizing the urgent need to protect the fragile ecosystems of the deep sea.
2025, US, 88 minutes
Directed by Tony Benna
Produced by André Ricchiardi, Tory Tunnell, Joshua Altman, Stelio Kitrilakis, Ben Cotner
Unexpected, irreverent, and absurdly funny, ANDRÉ IS AN IDIOT is a wildly life-affirming film that follows one man’s response to a fatal diagnosis—brimming with happiness, heart, and hilarity. Affectionately characterized by friends and loved ones as a brilliant idiot, André learns he’s dying from a disease he could have detected with a routine colonoscopy, and enlists director Tony Benna to document his final journey. Soon, a life defined by humor, curiosity, and defying convention approaches mortality with the same ridiculous bent—as André’s endearing stories and musings are brought to life with imaginative stop-motion animation and matter-of-fact frankness, capturing his unique approach to life’s challenges and joys. Coming from film distributor A24 and featuring music by Dan Deacon, the film won two awards at the Sundance Film Festival.
From executive director Gary Sinise comes the incredible story of Hal Croft: war hero, revered teacher, and record-breaking coach, who led his Reading Memorial High School track and field teams to an astonishing 29-year undefeated streak of 252 victories without a single loss, a national record. Croft’s character and philosophy had a profound impact, motivating countless students and athletes who went on to become successes of their own. Now retired, he faces his fiercest opponent yet: the lingering trauma of Vietnam and the solitude of a life once defined by worldly success. CROFT tells the unforgettable true story of a man who inspired thousands, but must now fight to save himself.
2025, US/UK, 96 minutes
Directed by Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
Produced by Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Shannon Dill, Anna Barnes
Connecticut native, Pulitzer Prize-winning Lynsey Addario has risked her life to capture the stark realities of war—from Ukraine and the Middle East to Afghanistan and Pakistan. From the Academy Award®-winning filmmakers of Free Solo, LOVE+WAR chronicles Addario’s ascent in the male-dominated world of conflict photography. But her work comes at a steep personal cost—each assignment requiring that she step into danger and leave behind her husband and two young sons. Behind the camera, Addario is torn between her unwavering commitment to the essential work of journalism and the powerful, competing demands of motherhood, grappling with the stakes when following your passion means threatening everything you love.
In English and Ukrainian with English subtitles.
2025, US, 92 minutes
Directed by Kim A. Snyder
Produced by Kim A. Snyder, Janique Robillard, Maria Cuomo Cole, Jana Edelbaum
As an unprecedented wave of book banning combs across Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders of intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy. Filmmaker Kim A. Snyder (Newtown, Us Kids) enters the eye of an ideological cyclone, where librarians emerge as first responders in the fight to uphold First Amendment Rights. In Texas, the Krause List targeted 850 books—many focused on race and LGBTQIA+ stories—which triggered sweeping book bans across the U.S. at an unprecedented rate. Despite facing harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing their work, the librarians’ rallying cry for the freedom to read is a chilling—and necessary—cautionary tale.
2025, US, 80 minutes
Directed by Oren Jacoby
Produced by Sam Jinishian, Janet Klein, Betsy West, Alex Lowther, Monika McClure
Can the smallest of voices topple the largest of giants? When their communities are threatened by a perilous pipeline plan, three fearless grassroots leaders and a group of rebellious Rockefeller heirs step forward to confront Big Oil’s greatest deception and battle environmental racism in a fight for a renewable future. THIS IS NOT A DRILL follows along as the coalition uncovers Big Oil’s “Big Con" exposing an industry doubling down on fossil fuels while disguising disastrous truths about the climate crisis. With gripping access, Academy Award® nominee Oren Jacoby presents a story of courage, betrayal, and grassroots victories, showing that everyday people, armed with only grit and determination, can stand up to power and change the course of history.
2025, US, 117 minutes
Directed by Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus
Produced by Yoni Golijov, Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, Olivia Steisand
From Academy Award® winning director Laura Poitras (All the Beauty and The Bloodshed, Citizenfour) and Emmy Award-winning director Mark Obenhaus, COVER-UP is a political thriller that traces the explosive career of Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, whose work has at once been widely celebrated, hotly debated, and also criticized throughout his 65+ year career. Urgent and deeply reported, the film is both a portrait of a relentless journalist and an indictment of institutional violence—revealing a cycle of impunity within the U.S. military and intelligence agencies and covering Hersh’s reporting from the My Lai massacre to Abu Ghraib. Drawing on exclusive access to Hersh’s notes, and interweaving primary documents and archival footage, COVER-UP captures the incredible power and process of investigative journalism.
When a former photo editor in Saigon reveals a secret that has plagued him for 52 years, it sets in motion a gripping two-year investigation into the truth behind “The Terror of War” (informally dubbed “Napalm Girl”)—one of the most iconic images captured during the Vietnam War, whose creation is now up for debate. American Vietnamese director Bao Nguyen (The Greatest Night in Pop, Be Water) takes audiences on a thrilling hunt for the truth, involving forensic experts, a small team of journalists, and acclaimed war photographer Gary Knight in a relentless search to locate the Associated Press freelancer at the center of a headline-grabbing mystery. Grappling with questions of authorship, racial injustice, and journalistic ethics, THE STRINGER shines a light on the vital yet often unrecognized contributions of freelance photojournalists in shaping the media landscape and how history is visualized.
In English and Vietnamese with English subtitles.
Spirited participants aged 65 to 85 comprise the POMtastics, a senior pom-dancing troupe that rehearses and performs across Massachusetts. Vibrant and heartfelt, THE POMTASTICS celebrates how movement, teamwork, and performance can create joy, connection, and a sense of youthfulness—regardless of age.
2025, US, 87 minutes
Created by Don Wright & Dan Algrant, Directed by Dan Algrant
Produced by Roland Barrow
Decades after making a Super-8 film together about kids living in a housing project in Boston’s South End, filmmaker Dan Algrant (Naked in New York, Greetings From Tim Buckley) embarks on a personal journey to reconnect with his co-director, uncovering challenging questions about race, class, and disparities of power that complicate and compliment the film’s own narrative. After falling out of touch for 50 years, his quest becomes a powerful exploration of the bonds that tie us together, the experiences that shape our identities, and the possibilities that form when different paths momentarily converge. Through the lens of a creative collaboration, CATHEDRALS illuminates the struggles and triumphs that define life in a close-knit community, ultimately reaffirming the importance of human connection and the power of collective memory.
With six Oscar-winning producers/executive producers including Frances McDormand and Joel Coen, renowned documentarian Robb Moss completes the cinematic portrait of a group of close friends he’s filmed for over forty years. Starting with Riverdogs (1978), Moss chronicled their outdoor, clothing-optional life during a summer-long rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. In The Same River Twice (2003), he contemplated their maturation from young, naked, and independent to fully clothed, middle-aged, and facing roles beyond themselves. Now, in THE BEND IN THE RIVER, Moss finds his friends in their late 60s/early 70s, grappling with the choices they’ve made as individuals and as a generation. Weaving together footage from all three periods, Moss creates a cinematic world, gently ricocheting viewers back and forth through time, asking the most fundamental of questions: how does who we’ve been inform who we are, and more—who we might become?
Pulsating and stylish on the surface while unflinchingly introspective at its core, ASK E. JEAN is the thrilling story of E. Jean Carroll’s life, from her early days as Miss Cheerleader USA to her rise as a trailblazing journalist, author, and beloved advice columnist, collecting a legion of fans, her own talk show, and two Emmy nods along the way. Carroll broke barriers as the first female editor at Esquire, Playboy, and Outside, helping to redefine women’s roles in media with her sharp wit and fearless voice. In recent years, she reignited public discourse by standing up to power, becoming the only woman to beat Donald Trump twice in court, and sparking a national conversation about truth, accountability, and resilience. Director Ivy Meeropol (Heir to an Execution, After the Bite) has crafted a striking portrait of an indomitable woman that shows it’s never too late to reclaim your voice, own your story, and change the world.
2025, US, 92 minutes
Directed by Julie Forrest Wyman
Produced by Julie Forrest Wyman, Lyndsey Dryden,
Shaleece Haas, Jonna McKone
THE TALLEST DWARF charts filmmaker Julie Forrest Wyman’s personal quest to find her place within the little people community at the very moment when dwarf identity is poised to change radically. As Julie unpacks the rumors of “partial dwarfism” in her family, she finds that hers is the last of a body type she has inherited. Wyman joins forces with a group of dwarf artists to confront the legacy of being fetishized and put on display. Through its personal and expanding perspective on questions of bias, body image, and spectatorship, this evocative film invites audiences to consider a new way of seeing people for who they are.
Presented with English open captions.
Betty Clark is an 80-year-old, African American chaplain at a trauma center in Oakland, CA. Jessica Zitter is a white, Jewish physician who has been Betty’s colleague on the Palliative Care service for over a decade. These two women are an unlikely team: chaplains and doctors do not usually pair up within the hierarchical and siloed halls of the hospital. With time, the two women’s shared values and history overcome the forces that keep them apart, and they go on to do their best work together. THE CHAPLAIN & THE DOCTOR models a new kind of care—one that honors both spirit and body, the diverse backgrounds of patients, and the most human needs we all share.
2025, US, 83 minutes
Directed by Ben Hethcoat, Keita Ideno
Produced by Ben Hethcoat, Billy Ray Brewton, John Henry Hinkel, Tommy Andres, Jaret Belliveau
From Marilyn Monroe and Robert Kennedy to Sharon Tate and Natalie Wood, the outspoken expertise of former Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner Dr. Thomas Noguchi (who oversaw their autopsies) pushed forensic science into the spotlight—even as Hollywood elites and political adversaries sought to silence him. Now at age 98, Noguchi is again seizing the limelight, having recently been portrayed in the Tony-nominated Broadway musical “Dead Outlaw,” and here narrating his own filmed biography. Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at Slamdance, CORONER TO THE STARS chronicles the extraordinary journey of a Japanese immigrant who unexpectedly rose to fame in a city fueled by celebrity—and his groundbreaking, often controversial rulings that helped shape American culture.
2025, US, 82 minutes
Directed by Benjamin Flaherty
Produced by Carra Greenberg, Harris Fishman, Scott Paskoff
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at SXSW, SHUFFLE is an empathetic chronicle of three individuals pursuing addiction treatment solutions amidst an insurance-fueled, for-profit system rife with fraud and false promises, where relapse—not recovery—offers the highest rate of return. With filmmaker Benjamin Flaherty narrating (informed in part by his own experiences undergoing drug addiction treatment) and shot over the course of three years, the film leverages first-person perspectives to offer an informative, human-centered investigation into the labyrinthine addiction rehabilitation industry—unraveling a profit-centered web of public policy and private interest preying on a desperate population.
SIMPLE MACHINE reframes assistive technologies in the adapted wood shop of a Cambridge architect, considering the history of post-war prosthetics, industrial manufacturing, and the beauty and challenges of classical mechanics within the ingenious tools of our everyday lives.
Presented with English open captions.
Chronicling tragically misunderstood Minnie Adams—one of the estimated one million people who died in American mental institutions—WILD GIRL respectfully examines her life and illness through expert interviews and reclaims her story through speculative animation, imagining an alternative history for a woman who family and society failed.
In Martha’s Vineyard’s in the 1700s, one in four residents was deaf, and many hearing residents communicated using a precursor to ASL. Paralleling contemporary discussions on inclusivity and diversity, SIGNS FROM THE MAINLAND explores the lasting legacy of one deaf community and its implications for society. Presented with English open captions.
